Chapter 14 - The Final Reckoning
My blood ran cold as I looked at screen. Someone was watching us from outside the garage right now. I grabbed Emma's arm, pulling her behind me. "Stay behind me, Emma!" I whispered with urgency. I slowly walked toward the open garage doorway. I peered around the wooden door frame carefully. A sleek black sedan was parked across street. The front passenger window rolled down two inches. A man wearing dark sunglasses stared at our house. He held a long camera lens pointed at garage. I reached into my flannel shirt for pocket knife. I stepped out onto driveway with firm posture. "Hey! Who are you?" I shouted across street. The man in black sedan started engine fast. Tires squealed loudly against asphalt road pavement. The black sedan sped away down Elm Street quickly. I managed to read the license plate numbers aloud: "Seven Alpha King Nine Four Two." I immediately called Detective Miller on my mobile phone. "Detective Miller, someone was just photographing us!" "Black sedan, plate number Seven Alpha King Nine Four Two!" Miller typed the plate number into federal database. "Hold on, Ethan, checking registration details now." The phone went quiet for ten tense seconds. Miller's voice returned, sounding extremely urgent and sharp. "Ethan, get Emma inside the house right now!" "That vehicle is registered to a private security firm." "A firm owned by Marcus Vance in Chicago!" "He is Attorney Vance's older brother!" "They are trying to recover the frozen crypto keys!" I grabbed Emma's hand, running inside main house. I locked the heavy front oak door securely. I slid the deadbolt lock into place hard. We ran upstairs to master bedroom for safety. In distance, sirens began wailing toward our neighborhood. Detective Miller was dispatching three patrol cars fast. We sat in bedroom, holding breath in darkness. The house was quiet except for our heavy breathing.
